Just over a month removed from 16 Carat Gold sees wXw move from the West to the former East for their next marquee event – wXw True Colors – live from the Eventwerk in the beautiful city of Dresden. Although it’s only been a few weeks, the landscape in wXw has drastically changed – with factions split, titles vacated and careers in the balance.

wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship: Ilja Dragunov © vs. WALTER

Ilja Dragunov is the wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion. The fact that I can write that fills me with utter joy – especially after the months of radio silence from the Russian after his loss in December. WALTER owed Dragunov a favour and got him in the main event on 16 Carat Gold Night Two, in which Dragunov grabbed his chance with both hands and escaped Oberhausen as champion.

This match has all the hallmarks of a classic. We got a brief taste of what this will be like in London, when Dragunov beat off WALTER as well as Travis Banks and David Starr. And who could forget the war that occured in the 2017 16 Carat Gold final? WALTER is on a losing streak in big match situations. He’s lost Thatcher and the Tag Titles but at least the belt is in the hands of someone who he respects. Whatever the result will be on Saturday evening – the best man will have won.

Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship #1 Contendership: Absolute Andy vs. Marius Al-Ani

Absolute Andy winning 16 Carat Gold was something which absolutely no pundit would have predicted in the run up to Oberhausen – but round after round after round of swindling saw him pull off one of the biggest heists in European wrestling history. Much like most of the fans in the Turbinenhalle – Christian Jakobi was not satisfied with the results on that fateful Sunday and saw fit to place Andy’s #1 Contendership on the line in a TLC match with Al-Ani having the opportunity to make the next step up.

This should be the final bloody battle between the former tag team champions who split at World Tag Team League last October – with both men having something to prove. Andy winning would be evidence that his triumph wasn’t a fluke and there is still live in the veteran grappler yet. However, perhaps the man with more to lose is Marius Al-Ani. He’s had some very impressive wins over the likes of Chris Brookes and Jonah Rock but he’s still perhaps a little bit in the shadow of his nemesis. A world title shot could propel Al-Ani into the upper echelon of the business – but the fiercest test always comes from those who know you best.

wXw Shotgun Championship: Bobby Gunns © vs. Lucky Kid vs. Alexander James vs. Mark Davis

If Ilja Dragunov’s return warmed our hearts at 16 Carat, the explosion of popularity for The Young Stunner stole our hearts that weekend. Bobby Gunns has shown no sign of stopping since the Oberhausen weekender, taking wins over Julian Pace on Shotgun and TK Cooper in London. However, three new contenders have emerged to challenge the “King of Smoke Style” in what could be Gunns’ biggest challenge yet.

One man who has been bothering Gunns for the past few weeks is RISE’s Tarkan Aslan – campaigning on behalf of his “little brother” Lucky Kid on recent episodes of Shotgun. Lucky Kid was another who burst out over Carat weekend and is more than capable of winning the belt by himself but the influence of RISE is powerful – and everyone should be on the lookout for shenanigans from the villainous group.

Despite being knocked out of 16 Carat Gold in the first round, ‘The Prince of Pro’ Alexander James has been on a good run – winning against Jonah Rock on Night Two as well as defeating Jack Sexsmith on the London show. James offers a slightly different threat to the other men in this match – having the most similar style to the champion with his Thatcher-esque technical approach.

The wildcard in this situation is the big Dunkzilla Mark Davis. Davis and his Aussie Open partner Kyle Fletcher booked their ticket to October’s World Tag Team League at the London show and is set to complete more dates in Germany in the coming months. Despite making a huge impact in Europe since he moved over here last year, championship gold hasn’t been particularly forthcoming – this could be the most important match he’s had to date.

wXw World Tag Team Championship: Jay-FK vs. LAX vs. Monster Consulting

Fans were shocked in the immediate aftermath of wXw’s Kutenholz show when the company announced the departure of long-standing roster member and one-half of the World Tag Team Champions “Bad Bones” John Klinger. Klinger’s removal meant that he and Da Mack were stripped of the tag belts and thusly put up for grabs in this exciting three-way. Three of wXw’s most popular teams have accepted the challenge and look set to do battle in the Eventwerk.

Monster Consulting have been on a roll recently – growing massively as a result of the surge of popularity following 16 Carat Gold. Both Nero and Dreissker have each held the wXw Tag belts twice and it would be a very foolish person to count these two out for this match – especially after their dominant victory over Emil Sitoci and Dirty Dragan two weeks ago on Shotgun. Nero and Dreissker are on a quest to make Monster Consulting go WorldWILD and the wXw World Tag Team belts would be a great place to start.

Much like Monster Consulting, Jay-FK are another team that has had an impressive victory in the wake of 16 Carat Gold – taking victory against the Crazy Bastards this week. Confidence is high for the two German youngsters – and Skillet has tasted tag team gold on two occasions before – but Jay-FK have had high profile losses against both Monster Consulting and LAX in recent months. If there’s any time to break the duck – this is the time to do it.

Our final team, representing the Latin American Xchange, were somewhat of a revelation over the World Tag Team League weekend last October – having a victory over The Rottweilers as well as two very good showings against the Briscoes and Ring Kampf. EYFBO make their hotly anticipated return to wXw for a mini-tour encompassing True Colors as well as shows in Leipzig and Gütersloh – and would be considered the outside bet for the titles.

Killer Kelly vs. Audrey Bride

Our final scheduled match for True Colors sees wXw’s first Women’s Champion Killer Kelly take on Hungary’s debuting star Audrey Bride. Bride has been making moves outside of Hungary for a while – most notably in GWF – but the step up into wXw represents another stage of her burgeoning career, especially on a Marquee-event against Killer Kelly.

Kelly would definitely be seen as the favourite for this match, having more experience on major shows than Bride – but there could be another factor she’ll have to look out for in Melanie Gray. Gray has grown increasingly resentful of Kelly in recent weeks – upset that the Portuguese warrior has been given more opportunities on the major shows than her. One thing is for sure, you can never underestimate wXw’s Disney Princess.

✏️ @MikeKilby

wXw True Colors 2018 takes place at Eventwerk, Dresden on Saturday 14th April 2018.

The show is due to be released on wXwNOW on Tuesday 17th April 2018 with both German and English commentary.